Throughout history, swordsmanship had been divided into three realms.
The first realm: no sword in the hand, but a sword in the heart.
Even unarmed, those in this realm could wound someone a thousand miles away with Sword Energy. Unrivaled, they were known as Sword Grandmasters.
The second realm: having no sword surpassed having one; a drawn sword startled gods and ghosts.
At this stage, the sword followed the heart. It became an extension of the body, as natural as a limb. A strike might seem to contain no sword at all, yet its terrifying power could make one's scalp prickle. Such people were known as Sword Venerables.
The third realm: the person was the sword, and the sword was the person.
Those who reached this realm stood at the pinnacle of swordsmanship. They had touched upon sword essence, achieving unity between person and sword and becoming one with their blades.
At this point, rather than a person controlling a sword, the sword became part of their body. They could sense its every subtle movement: the sword existed within them, and they existed within the sword. Such people were known as Sword Saints.
Wang Fan had practiced the sword tirelessly since childhood, yet he had still not reached the realm of a Sword Grandmaster. Jun Wangchen's strike just now, however, had encompassed a Grandmaster's sword energy, a Sword Venerable's command of the sword, and a Sword Saint's sword intent.
If his own sword forms were dazzling, then Jun Wangchen's were ethereal. The disparity in their realms was crushing.
*Legend speaks of people born with an extraordinary understanding of the sword. Sword essence that others might spend their entire lives studying without ever grasping comes naturally to them. They possess the supreme mysteries of swordsmanship from birth. Such people represent its